Asylum seekers and refugees receiving help from their GOOD NEIGHBOURS

THE GOOD NEIGHBOUR is an innovative project that supports the settlement journey of refugees and asylum seekers into their new lives here in Sydney. Ms Yade founded The Good Neighbour last year and hopes the organisation will expand across NSW in the near future.

“I always had the idea in the back of my head to ease the social isolation for people… I could see there was a missing link for people for having that friendship and support,” she says.

The Good Neighbour is neither politically nor religiously affiliated and works in partnership with Tafe New South Wales and the Ethnic Communities Council of New South Wales.

Ms Yade received a $60,000 grant from the Ethnic Communities Council at the beginning of this year to help fund training and interpreters.

Volunteers commit a few hours per fortnight by assisting their assigned family to adjust into their new surroundings.

18-year-old Sally Sukaria recently fled from her war-torn home in Syria with her parents. She hopes the process will be easier with the help of The Good Neighbour.

“I like it more if there is someone that helps me to fill up everything… applications for Uni[versity], my parents school, my settlement in the house and maybe, maybe it will help me by finding friends and practicing my language.”